Zimmerman: After I Shot at Trayvon, I Worried I Missed

And other revelations, from pair of new interviews...

(Newser)
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Feb. 26 will mark the two-year anniversary of the night George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, and Zimmerman is apparently commemorating the occasion with a fresh round of TV interviews—in which he opines on the "worst part" of the whole situation. "The worst part is that this could go on for my whole life," he said in a Univision interview that aired last night. "But I'm hopeful that it will start to decrease." Well, perhaps after this morning's interview on CNN's "New Day" stops generating headlines. Standout statements from the interviews, via the Orlando Sentinel, Los Angeles Times, and CNN:

After he fired at Trayvon Martin, he worried he missed: "I was afraid it had gone through his clothes and that it was going to go ... get lost, and, um, you know, go into a house and—because the young man was still talking to me, as I have said. So I thought that it hadn't … affected him, and I got worried, and I said, 'I hope that it hasn't—that the bullet hasn't hit a neighbor.'"

He can't answer whether he regrets killing Trayvon: ...because of the DOJ's civil rights lawsuit. But he can share one regret. "My life would be tremendously easier if I had stayed home" that night.

Why his life is no longer "normal": He wears a bulletproof vest whenever he leaves his home—but he has no permanent abode. "I'm totally homeless." He hasn't had to collect welfare, and is willing to work as a cook if he has to, but he hasn't gotten to that point yet; he's being supported by his family.

But he doesn't want to be a cook: "I'd like to professionally ... continue my education and hopefully become an attorney. I think that's the best way to stop the miscarriage of justice that happened to me from happening to somebody else."

He has no intention of leaving Florida: "I'll never leave this country and I'll leave my home when I want to leave my home. I'll move when I want to."

How has life changed? "I suffer from PTSD." Also, he has to watch his steps. He says anyone he interacts with—say, his doctor—ends up getting death threats.

ZIMMERMAN'S MINOR INJURY EXPLANATIONS:
The explanation for Zimmerman's bloody nose was in plain sight (if you looked closely).
EMS found NO blood or swelling inside Zimmerman's nostrils, but capillary bleeding on the exterior. The cause of bleeding explained:
. The effects of his own gunshot are branded on the tip of Zimmerman's nose (and perhaps behind mustache hairs) in the form of gunshot stippling (pinhole-size wounds created by gunshot residue blast). Minor bleeding from these 2 tiny holes flowed in a narrow path down to his lip (as seen in the color-enhanced bloody nose photo taken by a police officer on the scene).
. Swelling: George's nose "looks" swollen in the on-site photo, but we all know what happens to the size of the nose when a photographer gets in too close. To better judge, see the police station photos taken that night -- there's marginal swelling (maybe). A police officer noted that Zimmerman's nose didn't look broken.
So how are the existence of the nick on the bridge of Zimmerman's nose and Zimmerman's blood on his gun's grip explained (when Zimmerman had no blood on his hands):
. Gun recoil (common issue with these handguns). This explains the stippling as well (the gun has to very close to an object to leave a small amount of intense stippling residue, further away would mean more scattered and microscopic stippling, even further would mean no stippling -- think "dispersing").
BACK OF HEAD:
. considering the absence of swelling under the minor abrasions, something poked or scratched Zimmerman's head (not a single suture was required). I imagine he backed into the leafless branches of the small maple tree located DIRECTLY on the plot of grass. The mass of capillaries located at the skin's surface of the head explains the bleeding (which apparently didn't bleed enough to appear on his back collar).
OTHER INJURIES: None.

TheProducer

Feb 24, 2014 12:28 AM CST

small suggestion. if you don't want this to go on, don't do interviews.

tpvero

Feb 19, 2014 7:11 AM CST

Zimmerman is a sick puppy. You don't shoot people because you don't know them and they are walking down your street. He has been let off because he is a judges son and has been spoiled in this way all his life. If his name was Gonzoles he would have been in jail from the first minute. He is a sad mad freak who has been spoiled rotten.

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